TWT Contest: Teddy Bear
by A.I.T. - Author In Training
Summary: When Fred's aunt gives him a Teddy Bear as a good luck gift for the semi-state football game, weird things begin to happen. Anyone who has the bear seems to be subject to the worst luck possible. Could the bear be to blame?
1. Fred's Troubles

Fred's Troubles

Fred tossed the large stuffed animal to the side of the room. Why had his aunt bought him that? Of all things! He leered at the teddy bear, which now rested on its head. There was nothing special about it. It was just your average toy. It had soft, brown fur, beady black eyes, wore a dark red scarf around its neck, and was completely _not _Fred's thing.

Fred grumbled to himself about how his aunt must be losing it as he picked up his football gear. Tonight was Semi-State. The team, the Brooklyn High Cobras, was undefeated all season thanks to their star quarterback, Fred. If they won tonight, they would be going to State. If they won State, Fred would be the most popular guy in school and everyone would love him. Fred grinned at the thought.

His mom shouted from downstairs that it was time to leave. Fred walked over to the door, giving the teddy bear an extra kick on the way out. Tonight was going to rock.

* * *

Fred stumbled into his room and slammed his equipment on the ground.

"_How could we have lost_?" Fred thought to himself.

The game had gone horribly, ending with a score of 66 to 18. Fred was way off. He tripped three times, he fumbled the ball on almost every pass, and couldn't even get past the thirty yard line without getting pummeled. Fred let out a shaky breathe. He needed to hit something. He noticed the teddy bear, still lying where he had kicked it. That would have to work. Fred picked it up and threw it into the wall, knocking down a family photo from three years ago at Coney Island.

"Shit," Fred silently pushed the glass into a pile with his shoe. The teddy bear sat there, not a shred of glass near it, "Stupid bear." He stood and went downstairs to get a broom. He tripped on the second-to-last step and fell flat on his face. He stood and brushed himself off, swearing to himself. The broom could not be found anywhere. He went to ask his mom for it. Instead of the calm conversation Fred had expected, his mom went off on him.

"How could you brake that picture! It was the only one we had of the whole family. Now you're brothers are off to college and God knows if we'll ever even hear from them again!"

Fred tried to explain that the picture was still intact, it was just the frame that had busted, but she wouldn't listen.

"You are going to pay for a new frame and you're grounded for two weeks!"

Fred backed out of the room quickly. What was that about? Fred bumped into his dad on the way to his room.

"Why is your mother upset?"

"I don't know."

"She was just screaming her head off at you, how could you not know?"

Fred shrugged, "It was just a picture."

"Oh, so I guess you're going to say that tonight was _just_ a game too?" His dad crossed his arms.

"It's not my fault we lost."

"Really? Because from where I was sitting you were the only screwing up out there!"

"I'm sorry. I'll do better next time."

"If you're lucky enough to have a next time. Do you really think the coach is going to take you back after tonight?"

"Well-"

"Shut up and go to your room."

Fred was stunned, neither of his parents had ever told him to shut up before, nor were they ever this mean. Fred practically ran to his room.

He sat on his bed trying to think of what had happened that could make his day go so wrong. He went to school, did good, well Fred-good, on his tests, hit on a few girls, came home and received that stupid bear-

Fred froze and looked at the bear. It leaned against the wall, its sewn on smile beaming. "You," Fred marched to the bear and picked it up. "I don't know how, but somehow you caused all this didn't you? Didn't you!" Fred realized he was yelling at a stuffed animal and relaxed, "I'm getting rid of you tomorrow." He slammed it into the ground one final time and went to bed.

* * *

**_Finally got this done. I'm just gonna say the boys are juniors in high school for this story. Review! And don't forget to vote on my profile poll. (AN: I edited Crossing Worlds and you may want to reread chapters 5&13 considering they have the most changes and will come into play later in my series.)_**


	2. Sam's Troubles

Sam's Troubles

"Fred, there is no way a teddy bear can be bad luck," Sam said, shaking his head.

"I'm telling you Sam! This stupid animal has caused nothing but bad things to happen to me!"

"Like what?" He asked, not believing his friend.

"Were you at the game last night?"

"No."

Fred sighed, of course not. Sam never went to games. "Well it was awful."

"How awful?" Sam smirked, enjoying Fred's troubles.

"_Very_ awful." Fred spoke, not giving any details. "I went home and my parents got mad at me over nothing! I thought they were going to kill me! I thought the day through and the only way that day was different from others, is that stupid bear!"

Sam chuckled.

"You don't believe me? Fine! You take it!" Fred yelled and shoved the toy into Sam's arms.

Sam stared at it. "Fine. I'll prove to you it's not bad luck."

"Have fun!" Fred stormed out of Sam's house, not even bothering with a good bye.

Sam sighed and set the bear down on the table. It immediately fell on its side. Sam wasn't planning on keeping it permanently, just long enough to prove Fred wrong. He would probably donate it to a children's hospital after that.

He heard the phone ring in the other room followed by his mother's voice answering it. Shortly later, she walked into Sam's room while he was studying.

"Sam," he looked up, "that was your principal. He wants to see us today."

Sam was confused. It was a Saturday. Maybe the principal was just giving some sort of academic award. He followed his mom out to the car and drove to the school.

* * *

"He what?" Sam's mom shrieked. She glared at Sam, "How could you?"

"Mom, I swear. I would never cheat!"

The principal sighed, "Well, according to recent test scores you have been. The teacher made you take your test separately to ensure that students were copying you, and instead you failed it. The only explanation is that you cheated."

"I failed a test?" Sam began having panicky breathes. He had never, ever, not one time in his life failed a test! Sam was in shock. His mother was just pissed.

"Sam! I am very disappointed in you! I might even have to enroll you in some private school for this!"

"No!" Sam pleaded with his mom. He barely had any friends hear, he didn't want to have to start over again.

"It might have to be done."

Sam was at a loss. What had happened? He thought about what Fred had said about the teddy bear, but shrugged it off. There was no way a stuffed animal could have caused all this. Was there?

* * *

After going home with his ticked off mother, Sam went to Joe's, bringing the bear. On his way into Joe's room, Anna's cat jumped out of no where and clawed his leg. Sam shrieked and shook the cat off. Anna walked in to rescue her car and noticed Sam's bear.

"Cute bear. Where did you get it?"

"Fred gave it to me."

Anna raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. Okay, so maybe Sam shouldn't have said it like that.

He entered Joe's room and saw Joe and Fred sitting on the floor playing video games. Fred saw the bear and smirked.

"What's the matter? Bear bring you bad luck?"

Joe, having no idea what Fred was referring to, glanced at Sam, "What's with the bear?"

Sam sighed, "This thing isn't normal."

"Ha! I told you!" Fred jumped up.

Joe, still confused, stood next to Fred. "What do you mean?"

"Fred gave it to me-"

"Because he didn't believe me!" Fred interrupted.

"And soon after, the principal called," Sam continued, ignoring Fred, "I'm being accused of cheating! And I failed a test! I never fail!"

"And you think this is all because of a teddy bear?" Joe looked back and forth between his two best friends, who both nodded in response. "You've clearly lost it."

"Then you keep it!" Sam tossed the bear to Joe, who rolled his eyes.

"You're kidding me right?" he sighed, "Fine, I'll keep it I guess. As long as it shuts you two up.

* * *

**_So, now it's Joe's turn with the bear. Review plz!_**


	3. Joe's Troubles

Joe's Problems

Joe threw the book into its box and slammed it shut. No way had that just happened. He let out a shaky breathe, and tried to steady himself. He felt his heart pulsing with his entire body, the adrenaline seeming to never end. He closed his eyes and relaxed. He had survived, that was all that mattered.

* * *

_The ground rumbled beneath him. He moaned. Someone tripped over him. Joe grunted and managed to open his eyes. He stood and observed the scene around him. Panic. Pandemonium. It was either a college party getting busted up by the cops or something _really_ bad was happening. _

_A grown woman came rushing past, dragging her two small children with her. Joe tried to stop her to ask what was wrong, but she shrieked '__Monte Vesuvio' __at him and ran away. The words sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before. He had decided he was definitely in the past. The future wouldn't have houses and buildings like there were here. Joe managed to stop a boy about his age and asked him what was happening, but the boy gave him a funny look, as if he didn't understand and quickly fled._

_Joe looked around. Clearly this people were running from something, but what? But then he saw it. Joe had never seen many volcanoes in his life, but he knew when one was erupting. Where was he though? More importantly, where was _The Book_? If _The Book_ burned up, so would everyone else._

_It hit him then. __Monte Vesuvio.__ Mount Vesuvius. He was in Pompeii, and he was about to die._

_He merged in with the panicking crowd and scoured the area asking anyone who would listen if they had seen a blue book with silver squiggles on it. No one paid any attention. They were all too busy running for their lives and rescuing their loved ones. Only Joe knew who this would turn out, and he hated not being able to help these poor people. He needed to find _The Book_ though, that was the most important thing._

_He turned and ran towards the volcano. No one tried to stop him, too concerned with their own lives to worry about his. He rounded a corner and ended up in a tight space between two houses. There was a wooden ladder against a wall. It didn't look very sturdy, but Joe didn't have time to find another way up to a high point. He scrambled up the ladder, two steps snapping on him on the way up. The ladder fell down when he reached the top. He wouldn't be going back down that way._

_He looked over at the Mount Vesuvius. He could feel the heat radiating off of the sides from where he was standing. Worse, he could see the lava coming towards the city quickly. He didn't have much time left._

The Book_ had to be near by. The paper would have burned by now if it was any closer to the volcano, and he was at the end of the city. None of the citizens had grabbed any items in their escape._

_Joe spotted an item tipping back and forth on the edge of a building about four buildings back. There were two problems. 1) He didn't know if it was _The Book_ or not. And 2) The back of the city had just caught on fire, and it was spreading too fast for his comfort. He tried not to watch as the fire claimed its first victims. He had to go for it. The weight of the universe was depending on him. He stepped back and took a flying leap over to the next building. Breathing a sigh of relief, he jumped to the next building, the one after that, then the one after that. Only six feet of space separated him from the building he hoped _The Book_ was on. Could he jump that far and make it? The fire was slowly creeping forward as more and more people who didn't make it to the front of the stampede lost their lives. Joe took a few steps back. Here goes nothing. He bolted to the end of the building and swung his arms as hard as he could._

_He slipped._

_His fingers barely managed to hold onto the edge. He pulled himself up, thankful he had such a strict gym teacher who had pushed him so hard in class._

_He saw the item on the other side of the building. Sure enough, it was _The Book_, but it seemed that there was another item sitting on top of it. Joe got to _The Book_ as fast as he could. There was another item on top. He was surprised to see it was the teddy bear Sam and Fred has sworn was cursed._

_Joe didn't think about that too much. He picked up _The Book_ and flipped through the pages._

_The fire was only two buildings away._

_Joe couldn't seem to find the right page. Everything was so hot, he couldn't get over the scent of burning flesh, and the screams of children kept ringing in his ears. Finally he found the right page._

_The fire had spread to the next building._

_Joe started pushing things on the page. _The Book_ seemed unresponsive. Joe tired again._

_The fire was seven feet away._

_Still _The Book_ didn't respond. In anger and desperation, Joe threw _The Book_ on the ground. Granted, it wasn't the smartest thing he should do, but it worked. Green mist slowly leaked out._

_The fire's flames licked at the edge of the building. Joe picked up _The Book_ and the bear and ran. Just as the building exploded in flames inches from his back, the green mist completely enveloped him, taking him safely home.

* * *

_

He glared at the teddy bear in the corner of the room. Surely that thing couldn't have caused all that, right? Had Sam and Fred been right after all? It was just a stuffed animal, the essence of evil itself.

Joe shook his head and looked at his bed. It seemed warm and inviting after today's events. He crashed down and soon gave into a deep slumber.

* * *

**_One more chapter left! Review if you wanna find out what happens!_**


	4. Anna's Joys

Anna's Joys

Joe stormed into the hallway, clearly upset about something. Anna heard him running down the stairs. She peaked around the corner and saw Joe talking on the phone.

"Yes, I'm sure it caused it!" he paused, who ever he was talking to was responding, "I don't know! Just get over here so we can figure out what to do with it!" He hung the phone up and went back to his room. Anna looked in at him and asked what was wrong.

Joe rolled his eyes, "Nothing you need to know about."

Anna noticed a teddy bear in the corner of the room. It looked like it had been thrown against the wall. It currently was laying on its front. Anna immediately thought to herself that that was no way to treat a stuffed animal. It was the same one Fred was carrying yesterday.

"Why do you have the bear?"

Joe glanced over at it and glared. "Because. Now get out of my room!" Joe shoved her out and shut the door. What was wrong with them lately? Normally the boys were just weird, but in a normal boy way. Now they were acting really abnormal.

A few hours later, Anna heard Sam and Fred come up the stairs and go into Joe's room. She heard them yelling, but couldn't hear what they were saying. She cracked open Joe's door to listen in.

"We have to get rid of it somehow! I almost died!"

"Well what are we supposed to do? We can't give it away. It wouldn't be right to burden someone with that… thing."

"All of this just because of some stupid bear. Why did my aunt even buy that thing? She knows I hate that kind of stuff."

Anna blinked. They were acting up because of the bear. She bit her lip to hold back her laughter. This was too good. She stepped into Joe's room.

"You guys are seriously going crazy over a toy?"

Joe glared at her, "Get out Anna. You have no idea what's going on."

Anna crossed her arms, "It's a _toy_. You guys are going insane! Think about this."

The boys looked at each other, still firm in their beliefs.

"Then you take it. We'll wait and see what bad luck thing happens to you."

Anna went over and picked up the bear gently. "Fine. Weirdos." She left the room and went back to her own. She set the bear down nicely on her bed and patted its head. It began to tip over, but she caught it before it fell and set it straight again. "So cute." She walked to the other side of her room and found her old doll clothes that she used to play with when she was little. She checked to see if they would fit the bear, then began to play dress-up with it. She had just as much fun as she used to. Nothing bad happened. Her brother was just being stupid like always.

* * *

The next day, Anna came downstairs to get breakfast. She held the teddy bear in her arms. She had a perfect night's sleep. She slept with the bear the whole night.

Joe came downstairs soon after and smirked at Anna. "Have fun?"

Anna nodded, "Yup! This bear is fun, not evil. I was right. You guys _are_ going insane."

Joe was stunned. The bear was… fun? He shook his head in disbelief. "No way. That thing made Fred loose his big football game, Sam might be going to a different school, and it almost _killed _me."

Anna shrugged, "Maybe Fred was just having an off day. I'm sure the thing with Sam was just a mistake. And you screw up _The Book_ all the time. It doesn't surprise me that you almost died. It happens every time you warp."

Joe scowled. "Why was the bear there then when I warped?"

"I don't know. That mist can take anything with it. It practically has a mind of its own." She took a bite of her cereal.

"I don't get it. I'm positive that bear caused all of that. What did you do that we didn't?" Joe sat down at the table across from her.

Again Anna shrugged. "I was nice to it. Treated it like it was real."

Joe sat up. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, if you are right and this thing is real, or alive, then it probably wants to be treated nicely, like its being loved. I saw the way you had the bear on the ground, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Sam and Fred had treated it the same way."

Joe crossed his arms and scanned the bear up and down. "Whatever. I bet your bad luck just hasn't come yet. It's probably planning something big for you."

Anna rolled her eyes and finished her breakfast. Joe got up and went back to his room. The teddy bear's grin widened as he went, its eyes slowly following him.

End

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_**And... done! What do you think? Reviews would be appreciated!**_


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